Western US Event Slides: AARO Summary of Seven Federal Law-Enforcement Agents Who Observed UAP, September 2023

Source file: western_us_event_slides_5.08.2026.pdf Originating agency: Department of War / All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) Release date: May 8, 2026 (PURSUE Initiative Release 1) Event date range: two days, September 2023 (per cross-reference context) Page count: 4 (a structured deck, four content slides) High-significance pages: all four slides

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Official Blurb (from war.gov)

This document is a summary of statements by seven US PERSONs employed by the federal government who separately reported observing several unidentified anomalous phenomena in the western United States over the course of two days in 2023. The summary notes the US PERSONS reported four distinct categories of experiences, including observing "orbs launching other orbs" at a distance, observing a large stationary glowing orb at close estimated range, pursuing a large phenomenon near the ground, and observing a large, seemingly transparent phenomenon, reported to being akin to a "translucent kite." Although there is no technical data directly associated with this report, contextual factors — such as these events sharing features with others reported to AARO, the reporters' credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves — combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings.

Summary

This four-slide deck is a product of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), included in the PURSUE Release 1 package the Department of War published on May 8, 2026. It summarizes an extraordinary event in the Western United States over two consecutive days in 2023: seven federal law-enforcement special agents, designated USPER1 through USPER7, separately and jointly observed several unidentified anomalous phenomena. The presentation divides the observations into four distinct categories: "orbs launching orbs," in which large orange orbs launched small red orbs in groups; a "large, fiery orb," a close observation of a glowing orb suspended near a rock pinnacle; a "dark kite," an aerial form the agents pursued initially believing it was a vehicle; and a "transparent kite," a similar form through which stars could be faintly seen. AARO concludes the report is "among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings" — despite the absence of technical sensor data — owing to the reporters' credibility, independent corroboration, and similarity to other cases in the file.

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Research Article

PURSUE Release 1 and the historical context

On May 8, 2026 the U.S. Department of War (renamed from Department of Defense in 2025) released PURSUE Initiative Release 1, the first document package under AARO's new transparency initiative. The package includes dozens of military mission reports (MISREPs), interagency correspondence, federal interviews, forensic sketches, and this document: a four-slide visual summary that is unusual in that it is not raw reporting but an analytical synthesis by AARO itself. Whereas most of the package is field product (pilot reports, witness interviews, operational reports), this deck is a second-order product: AARO took the statements of seven separate agents, compared them, and built a structured description of the categories identified within.

This document is part of a larger body concerning the Western US incident of September 2023. Released alongside it were: an FBI Laboratory composite sketch dated April 30, 2024 describing an ellipsoidal, metallic-bronze object 130–195 feet long; three FBI 302 interviews marked Serial 3, 4, and 5; and a separate USPER statement on a UAP encounter at a military facility. Together these create a complete cross-agency case file on an incident of the highest importance.

The Western US event: two days in September 2023

Per the deck, the event occurred in the Western United States over two separate days. The precise location was not disclosed, but the environment described in the observations gives clues: a "rock pinnacle," a "road in a restricted zone," and "desert." The combination points to mountainous or semi-desert terrain in the Western US, near a military facility or other restricted area — Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, or parts of California. The deck states clearly that there were "two separate days," with the first observation (orbs launching orbs) occurring at dusk on both days, while the closer observations (fiery orb, dark kite, transparent kite) occurred in the pre-dawn hours.

The seven USPERs and what they saw

The deck identifies the seven reporters carefully as USPER1 through USPER7. USPER (United States Person) is a technical term used by the US intelligence community to denote a US citizen, resident, or organization, in distinction from a foreign subject; its use here implies the sensitivity of the file. The document specifies all were "federal law enforcement special agents" — not soldiers, pilots, or radar technicians, but agents trained in witness interrogation, evidence collection, and distinguishing reality from fabrication.

By slide:

• Slide 1 ("Orbs Launching Orbs"): USPER1 through USPER6, "three teams of two special agents each," observing the phenomenon from different vantage points in a shared event.
• Slide 2 ("Large, Fiery Orb"): USPER5 and USPER6, one team.
• Slide 3 ("Dark Kite"): USPER5 and USPER6, the same team.
• Slide 4 ("Transparent Kite"): USPER5 and USPER6, joined by an additional colleague, USPER7.

This structure indicates USPER5 and USPER6 are the core team of the file, experiencing all four categories; the other teams (USPER1–USPER4) experienced only the first event from different vantage points; USPER7 joined later but could not see the "transparent kite." That all seven are federal law-enforcement agents, trained in evidence documentation, who experienced the events separately from different viewpoints, gives the file unusual evidentiary weight.

The four distinct categories

A. "Orbs launching orbs" — a unique phenomenon

The first and, by any measure, the most exotic of the four is an observation in which a large orange orb in the sky launched smaller red orbs. The deck's literal definition: orange "orbs" in the sky "emit/launch smaller red 'orbs' in groups of two to four, with three being the general consensus." The phenomenon occurred at least five times. The standard sequence: the orange orb appears, launches red orbs, then vanishes. The orange orb's appearance lasted only "a second or two," while the red orbs, once launched, moved on various trajectories — usually horizontally away from the "mother orb," though in up to two specific cases with anomalous motion: one red orb "heading up at an angle," and another that "swooped down" after launch.

The central aspect: the number of teams. Three separate teams, from different vantage points, saw the same phenomenon over the two days. This constitutes independent corroboration. A single observation could be dismissed as an optical effect, illusion, or interpretive error; a synchronous observation by three separate, un-coordinated teams makes an alternative explanation considerably harder. AARO also notes uncertainty over whether this was one orange orb that reappeared (launching a group each time) or several different orange orbs — the "serial sequence of events" remains an open question.

B. "The large, fiery orb" — close range

The second category is a close-range observation by USPER5 and USPER6 alone — one that particularly troubles AARO, who supplemented it with after-the-fact field measurements. The witnesses estimated the object at "500–600 meters," but subsequent AARO measurements put the distance at about 1,050 meters. The witnesses estimated the object's size as similar to a "small helicopter cockpit," but AARO measurements estimated a diameter of 12 to 18 meters. AARO's correction is significant: an object 12–18 meters across at one kilometer is far more substantial than a "helicopter cockpit" at half a kilometer — pointing both to the human tendency to underestimate distance and size of glowing nighttime objects, and to the true severity of the phenomenon.

The witnesses' description deserves quoting: "similar to the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without the pupil, or maybe an orange Storm Electrify bowling ball." This is a hallmark of authentic UAP testimony, where human witnesses are forced to use cultural references to describe a phenomenon they have no physical name for. They added that USPER6 noticed a puzzling detail: it "almost seemed to have a small axle or something connecting it from the bottom to the rock pinnacle." This hypothetical axle implies an unseen but physical structure — a connection between the glowing orb and a point in space. The object made no sound, "seemed to be hovering with zero resistance or movement, or to be suspended," and the observation lasted about a minute. The combination of true size (12–18 m), static character, absence of sound, and proximity to a rock pinnacle is highly anomalous.

C. Pursuit of a near-ground phenomenon — the "dark kite"

The third category, "Dark Kite," is the closest encounter. USPER5 and USPER6 first saw what they thought was a vehicle moving on a road in a "restricted zone." The "vehicle" had two lights, red and white, 60–90 cm above the ground. The agents decided to pursue it, since an unauthorized vehicle in a restricted area is a routine security concern. As they closed to within hundreds of feet, it performed an action impossible for a car: it "suddenly moved off the road over the desert without changing its orientation with respect to the observers, i.e., it appeared to move laterally," at an estimated 15–20 mph. The object did not turn or rotate — it began moving laterally while still in its forward-aft orientation relative to the pursuers. Lateral motion without a change of heading is not something cars do.

Additionally, "the object did not change altitude and appeared to be moving with 'zero resistance.'" In physical terms, "zero resistance" suggests an absence of aerodynamic drag — terminology also encountered in Navy pilot reports of the Tic Tacs. The object stopped about 100 meters off the road and extinguished its lights. Seen from behind by USPER6 it looked like a "thin line"; USPER5 described it as an "ill defined, dark kite shape that had some rounded width to the sides." In later discussions with AARO the shape was described as triangular. USPER6 brought out night-vision goggles (NVGs) but managed to see the object only for a fraction of a second before the lights went out; afterward only a "very thin line" remained, estimated 4 feet wide and horizontal to the ground, which then began moving again at 15–20 mph and "rising in altitude, but remaining a flat line." The witnesses lost sight after a few seconds.

D. "The transparent kite" — an intriguing phenomenon

The fourth category occurred about 30 minutes after the dark kite. The team USPER5 and USPER6 returned to the general area accompanied by an additional colleague, USPER7, prompted by a report of "another unauthorized object in the area" — an external report, plausibly from a monitoring or speed system. Within hundreds of meters of the "dark kite" site, USPER5 and USPER6 (but not USPER7) observed a kite-shaped object with a lighting pattern similar to the previous one, about six meters above the ground, tilted, and seeming to drift slowly with the wind.

The central detail — and the one that gave the category its name — comes from USPER5's statement: under night-vision goggles "we could vaguely see a bright star or two in the distance through the object, though somewhat more faint," leading them to believe the object was somewhat transparent. Stars visible through the object, but with slight dimming, does not match known transparent materials. The next passage in USPER5's testimony is, in the authors' view, one of the most important in the whole package: after losing the object he tried to relocate it with a flashlight and noticed that "at one point my beam went from shining far into the distance to stopping about 50 yards away on nothing in particular, it just was not projecting into the distance and then it was." The flashlight beam struck something invisible to the eye, then resumed projecting once aimed away — indicating the physical presence of an optically invisible body at a specific point in space, blocking the beam. If accurate, this is objective evidence for the existence of a visual phenomenon inconsistent with any known aircraft. The team could not reacquire the object, and USPER7 never saw it at all — indicating an angle- or line-of-sight-dependent phenomenon, not equally present to all observers.

Synthesis: why AARO calls this "among the most compelling"

AARO's official summary refers to the file as "among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings." This is a significant statement given AARO holds thousands of UAP reports. Four factors explain the ranking:

1. Reporter credibility. Seven federal law-enforcement special agents — trained to detect deception, interview witnesses, and weigh evidence. The document does not state their agency, but the presence of 302 interviews (a standard FBI form) in the same package strongly suggests FBI.
2. Independent corroboration. Three different teams from different vantage points saw the same "orbs launching orbs" phenomenon simultaneously — not explainable by a localized optical illusion or a single witness's misinterpretation. Coordinated detail alongside honest differences (USPER5 sees a kite shape, USPER6 a thin line, USPER7 nothing) is a classic pattern of truthful testimony.
3. Similarity to other AARO cases. Per the official summary, "events sharing features with others reported to AARO," implying additional, possibly non-public, files with similar phenomena.
4. The nature of the event itself. The lateral "zero-resistance" motion, partial transparency, and instant appearance/disappearance match the anomalous category. AARO usually works to resolve phenomena (attributing them to balloons, drones, planets, satellites). That it leaves this file anomalous and ranks it "among the most compelling" is meaningful.

The document explicitly states there is "no technical data directly associated with this report" — no radar, no FLIR, no cell records, no cameras. All evidence is human testimony. Even so, AARO concludes the file is "among the most compelling," indicating the high value the office attaches to expert eyewitness testimony even absent sensor evidence.

Connection to the composite sketch and the FBI serials

The deck does not stand alone. It is part of a cluster of documents dated close in time, all concerning the Western US September 2023 event: the FBI Laboratory composite sketch (April 30, 2024) of an ellipsoidal metallic-bronze object 130–195 feet long that materialized from a bright light and vanished instantly; FBI Serials 3, 4, and 5 (formal 302 interviews — supporting the hypothesis that the USPERs are FBI agents who were simultaneously witnesses and interviewees); and a separate USPER statement on a UAP encounter at a military facility. Together they form a complete file: the FBI sketch describes one object among many reported; the 302s are detailed personal interviews; the deck is AARO's analytical synthesis.

Significance for UAP research

This deck is a milestone in US UAP research. For the first time, with the institutional weight of an official AARO product, there is a summary of a UAP event in which multiple American civilian federal law-enforcement special agents observed the phenomenon; the phenomenon divided into four distinct categories with different characteristics, indicating its complexity; AARO concluded, absent technical data but on the basis of credibility and anomalous characteristics, that the event is "among the most compelling" in the office's files; and the deck is part of a body of FBI, AARO, and personal-witness documentation forming a complete picture rather than a single report. The release of such a document under PURSUE Release 1 is itself a statement by the Department of War: anomalous phenomena are real, observed by professionals, and worthy of serious investigation — a marked progression from the US military's historical posture.

Key People

The seven USPERs (by category)

• USPER1 and USPER2: Team 1 in "orbs launching orbs"; federal law-enforcement special agents; vantage point 1.
• USPER3 and USPER4: Team 2 in "orbs launching orbs"; vantage point 2.
• USPER5 and USPER6: Team 3 in "orbs launching orbs," and the core team across all four categories. The file's key witnesses; participated in the glowing-orb observation, the dark-kite pursuit, and the transparent-kite observation.
• USPER7: A colleague of USPER5 and USPER6, joined following a report of another unauthorized object; present at the "transparent kite" area but did not see the object.

AARO/DoW decision-makers

The deck does not identify specific AARO analysts responsible for processing the data, the distance/size estimates, or the "most compelling" conclusion; these are presented institutionally on behalf of the office.

Locations

• Western United States — the general location; precise site undisclosed.
• Rock Pinnacle — topographic feature of the "glowing orb" site; suggests mountainous or semi-desert terrain.
• Restricted Zone Road — the "dark kite" observation site; suggests proximity to a military or security facility.
• Desert — general environmental characteristic.

Incidents

Category	Time of day	Duration	Witnesses	Physical characteristics
Orbs Launching Orbs	Dusk, two separate days	1–2 s per event, ≥5 times	USPER1–USPER6 (3 teams)	Orange orb launches 2–4 red orbs; horizontal/lateral motion; some angled or swooping
Large, Fiery Orb	Dusk	~1 minute	USPER5, USPER6	Glowing orange orb 12–18 m across, ~1,050 m away, static, near rock pinnacle, silent
Dark Kite	Pre-dawn	Seconds after stopping	USPER5, USPER6	Red & white lights 60–90 cm up, ~1.2 m wide, lateral "zero-resistance" motion 15–20 mph, triangular/thin line
Transparent Kite	Pre-dawn, ~30 min after dark kite	Brief	USPER5, USPER6 (not USPER7)	Tilted kite shape, ~6 m up, drifting with wind, semi-transparent (stars visible through), blocked a flashlight beam

Notable Quotes

"Three teams of two federal law enforcement special agents each (USPER1 through USPER6) independently describe seeing orange 'orbs' in the sky emit/launch smaller red 'orbs' in groups of two to four" — Slide 1

"similar to the Eye o[f] Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without the pupil, or maybe an orange Storm Electrify bowling ball" — USPER5/USPER6 on the glowing orb

"seemed to be hovering with zero resistance or movement, or to be suspended" — USPER6 on the glowing orb

"the object suddenly moved off the road over the desert without changing its orientation with respect to the observers, i.e., it appeared to move laterally" — on the dark kite's motion

"ill defined, dark kite shape that had some rounded width to the sides" — USPER5 on the dark kite

"vaguely see a bright star or two in the distance through the object, though somewhat more faint" — USPER5 on the transparent kite

"at one point my beam went from shining far into the distance to stopping about 50 yards away on nothing in particular, it just was not projecting into the distance and then it was" — USPER5 on the transparent kite, describing a flashlight beam physically blocked at an apparently empty point

"Although there is no technical data directly associated with this report, contextual factors — such as these events sharing features with others reported to AARO, the reporters' credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves — combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings."